Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler is the direct sequel to Cooler's Revenge, picking up after Cooler's defeat to reveal that his consciousness was absorbed by the Big Gete Star — a sentient mechanical planet that reconstructed him as a cybernetic Meta-Cooler. The Big Gete Star has now encircled New Namek, draining the planet's resources and using the Namekians as living fuel cells, forcing Goku and Vegeta to intervene. The film is notable as one of the few DBZ theatrical entries to give Vegeta a significant combat role and to position Goku and Vegeta as genuine partners rather than rivals or grudging allies.

The Meta-Cooler concept — where every destroyed copy regenerates with improvements to counter the attack that defeated it — creates one of the more inventive combat scenarios in the theatrical lineup. The Goku-Vegeta combination required to overcome this adaptive ability provides the film's satisfying climax. Like its predecessor, Return of Cooler moves efficiently within its runtime and delivers strong action sequences. Non-canonical but recommended as a direct continuation of Cooler's Revenge — watching both in sequence provides the most complete Cooler experience the franchise offers.